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FTSE points to healthier sectors and small cap success in the U.K. market
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Andy Harvell, Head of Quantitative Indices at FTSE Group, joins us for the second episode in our three-part series on the U.K. market. In this podcast, Andy discusses the sector-by-sector break down of the U.K.'s market performance and describes some of the main shifts in performance over the long and short term.
In FactSet's most recent podcast episode, Andy Harvell takes a look at U.K. market performance by sector. We discuss the rebound of British banks, the emergence of size bias in the FTSE 100, and the fluctuating performance of oil and other commodities.
Among the topics that Andy addressed in the recent podcast was how the sector weights have shifted in the FTSE All-Share Index,
"Going back to 1995, Banks accounted for 12% of the all share index, Industrials were 10%, oil and gas were 10%. If you look at it now, now Banks are 16.8, Industrials have
fallen back to 4.2%, and Oil and Gas are 20.5%...
Oil and Gas has come up to be one of the most
dominant sectors."
As well as the shifting weights of the sectors, Andy notes that this quarter was the first in which size indices performed very well. All the FTSE size indices were up on a quarterly basis last quarter, says Andy, particularly the FTSE SmallCap Index. In addition, Andy remarks that April 2009 appears to be a turning point, when many major U.K. indices saw a significant recovery of losses.
This trend also bears out on a sector basis, he says, "Some of the sectors that have performed not very well over the 12 months are actually starting to pick up again now."
Subscribe to FactSet's podcast to hear more details on a sector-based breakdown of U.K. market performance, as well as Andy's thoughts on some of the weaker sectors. You can also listen to the podcast on the web or read the transcript.
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